Veg Out

This week, Steve and Jeanette welcome former host and RC volunteer Ana back to the show! Steve gives us a review of La Bartola, Jeanette shouts out two east side vegan businesses that have reopened, and Ana discovers a new vegan cheese. We also get an update from Ana on being vegan in Guelph, and all three preview the virtual Virtual Veg Food Fest.   Mentioned on the podcast: La Bartola Lettie’s Vegan Fine Foods (new vegan cheese alert!) Animal Liberation Kitchen Tori’s Bakeshop Eastend Vegan Withrow Park Farmers’ Market Guelph Vegan Socials Crazy Carrot Nora Cooks The post Veg Out 479: Virtual Veg Fest Preview with Ana! 

Veg Fest is just over a month away: what better time to dive into some key moments in the TVA’s history? On this episode, Sweta and Steve chat with Peter McQueen, who has been instrumental to the TVA since 1983. Get inspired by his journey to ethical veganism and hear how the Veg Food Fest has evolved from its humble beginnings as the Vegetarian Information Fair (no, the TVA did not have a marketing expert at the time) to the weekend-long vegan extravaganza at the Harbourfront Centre that you’ve come to love. Plus: hear fun facts about being part of the TVA, including rubbing shoulders with international vegan celebs during Veg Food Fest!

Credits 

Hosts: Steve and Sweta 

Guest: Peter McQueen 

Show Summary: Sarah Bradley 

Editing: Sweta 

Theme Music: Matt Judge

Lisa Le is a nerdy, feminist, intersectional vegan blogger and food photographer. She runs The Viet Vegan blog and Youtube channel, and you may remember her as a former Veg Out host and Resource Centre volunteer. Lisa joined us virtually to talk about her sourdough journey, propagating house plants, and discovering the new plant based Becel butter bricks and using them to invent vegan matcha-lime sticky buns (pictured above). We also talk about TVA’s new fitness and fundraising initiative Steppin’ to the Beet and share our own fitness experiences during the pandemic. Also featured in this episode: Earthling Ed’s recent video about why vegans don’t eat honey La Bartola Taco Shop and Mexican restaurant opens in Toronto Former butcher shop to become vegan deli in Toronto’s east end.

On this sweltering hot weekend, who better to chat with than Ikeila Wright from One Love Vegetarian – purveyor of delicious meals with just the right amount of spice? From corn soup to roti to callalloo, One Love offers a variety of nourishing Carribbean creole dishes made with care and love. On this episode, Sweta and Steve talk to Ikeira about Ital* food, Rastafarian culture, and finding community here in Toronto. Since One Love offers plant-based cuisine infused with Caribbean flavours, Ikeila emphasized the importance of sourcing Indigenous foods from the islands like collard greens, Jamaican sweet potato, and herbs like thyme. Listen in to find out how One Love evolved from selling delicious corn soup at festivals and concerts around the city, branching out to cook more dishes and offer catering, then opening the beloved green storefront. Plus: raising five kids on a plant-based diet! Did you know? One Love is one of the longest-standing vendors at the Veg Food Fest (speaking of that – stay tuned for announcements about how this year’s virtual festival is taking shape). Visit One Love at 854 Bathurst Street in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood. *In the Caribbean, Ital refers to food from Indigenous crops that promotes good health and liveliness. It’s a holistic term that encompasses history, food, and culture. Ikeila explains like coming from a culture of oppression has bred ingenuity and resourcefulness, and she draws from this resourcefulness to make vegetable and plant-based foods taste amazing (hint: it’s all about the seasoning).

We’re keeping the celebrations going! In Part 2 of our special 75th Anniversary episode, hosts Sweta and Steve dive into some of the early days of the TVA with guest Michele Brennan, who has been with the organization for many glorious years. The TVA may have an official office and Resource Centre now, but, true to its community ethos, its first and long-time office was actually in the home of the first president, Barbara Jackson. Listen on for more blasts-from-the-past, including how much the vegan and vegetarian restaurant scene here in the GTA has evolved over the past decades. We round out key moments in the organization’s history with updates about Bill 156 (which would essentially criminalize the act of investigating animal cruelty practices) and a new ice cream from Perfect Day (they make cow milk from bacteria – talk about innovative!), and of course, restaurant updates. 

Did you know that the TVA is turning 75 in on June 19? Tune in for a special Anniversary edition of Veg Out, where we chat with John Graber, a long-time volunteer with the TVA, about the history of the resource centre and the creation of the podcast as a slice of TVA’s history. Toronto’s veg*n landscape has changed dramatically over the past 10-15 years and it’s always fun to take a look back at how things used to be (i.e., needing to go to Seattle to find a good vegan donut). Plus: who, or what, is Gonga? And what is one staple you’ll (almost) always find at the Resource Centre? Listen to discover more fun facts about the TVA’s history.

This week we’re talking PLANTIFY: a short documentary available on CBC Gem that explores how one dynamo couple introduced plant power on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. Here in the GTA we’re lucky to have access to a plethora of resources to support plant-based diets, but that’s not always the case in urban, suburban, and rural locations across Canada. So how did a small community on ‘The Rock’ develop shifts to support culturally appropriate plant-based eating? Hear Sweta, Steve, and Sarah’s thoughts on the community-building power of food – because being plant-based is just as much about emotional well-being and social connection as it is about physical health. Plus: updates on the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in several Canadian slaughterhouses and the troubling issue of workers being directed to return to work – even when they feel unsafe.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvCka-tfZvg

We’ve made it through seven weeks of COVID-19 lockdown here in Toronto and we wanted to check in and talk about how we’re coping. On this episode of Veg Out, Betsy, Sweta, and Sarah talk about finding ways to get some fresh air (and maybe even get a whiff of blooming magnolias), stay connected to our communities, appreciate our urban surroundings (7:30PM healthcare worker choruses FTW!), and of course – cook! Plus, the devastating effects of slaughterhouses are being amplified during this crisis, and we discuss the myriad problems with worker conditions on both human and animal health. Will COVID-19 lead to more awareness of the environmental and social impacts of meat consumption? Only time will tell, but for now, we’ll keep sharing ways for both veg*ns and the veg-curious to shift some of their food choices given the limitations of accessing fresh food (hint: dried legumes are the powerhouse ingredients that just keep giving).

On this episode of Veg Out, Sweta, Sarah, and Steve discuss Red Meat Republic, a hard-hitting and informative book that illuminates the troubling practices of America’s cattle ranching industry. From the complexities of land ownership to the blunt power of the assembly line to workers’ rights, there is so much to consider when it comes to ‘big meat’. A lot of the issues we see with modern industrial agriculture have entrenched histories, and it’s important to understand these histories as we continue to advocate for healthier, more environmentally sustainable, and more just food systems. Plus: get essential updates on some of our fave vegan businesses and find out how you can support them over the coming weeks.

On this episode of Veg Out Sarah, Steve and Sweta speak with Tanya from the restaurant Animal Liberation Kitchen. We get into how it all started and how they’re dealing with the struggles of maintaining a restaurant in these times.